[cma-l] imaging and the announcement

Tue Jan 20 10:57:50 GMT 2015

I see where your coming from here! I have to juggle my responsibilities for
the station around May Day job and my part time business. I seem to manage.
My colleagues on the board do similar and we have areas of responsibility
but good communication between each other is key! We therefore can step
into each other's shoes when needs must.
Yes even at my day job I field radio related calls and use my annual leave
carefully to be able to go to events. Good time management, as I am in
February when I am speaking at a local school careers event on gaining
experience through volunteering.

Regards
Neil Munday
Director and presenter
Susy Radio 103.4

On Monday, 19 January 2015, Canalside's The Thread <office at thethread.org.uk>
wrote:

>      Dear All
>
>
>
> The Station Manager conversation is always a corker I reckon. Station
> Managers in Community Radio are NOT really like Managers in other
> businesses …. We tend to be more of General Dogs Bodies and Gophers ………….
> Has anyone else experienced this ??   when we set out on this venture in
> 2004 I was prepared to do whatever was needed to get the project up and
> running and then tootling along. I aimed at doing about 20 hours a week and
> receiving nothing but a few expenses. The 20 hours then became 25 and then
> very quickly became 35 and then 40. A slight re-think was needed and it was
> decided that I was to receive a little tickle £££ or 2 ……….. obviously, at
> 40 hours one or two of the other thing that I do had to be pushed slightly
> to one side (ie   my job) ……..
>
> In 2007 just before launching full-time we needed another serious re-think
> as without realising it  I was now doing 50 hours !
> obviously the great question appeared from nowhere which was ‘’a good
> Manager delegates’’ …. All well and good,if, you have folk around you to
> delegate to. We had lots of volunteers, but they were merely doing the
> shows and then goodnight Vienna see ya next week. You end up with the
> same five running the whole process, and therefore they are the five who
> receive a little tickle £££      the situation in a roundabout way answered
> itself.
>
> Are there any other Stations who are where they are today of course
> through deliberate actions but also and element of fate and luck and basic
> HARD GRAFT from a few people. Those people may also define their job
> description as General Dogs Bodies and Gophers.
>
>
>
> I say all of this without being derogatory to anyone ……………. My hours are
> now averaging at 70 whilst receiving Part-Time pay. I’m not complaining, I
> am merely making a point and giving you all the facts.
>
>
>
> I reckon others are in the same Boat ……..if they ain’t, then we’re doing
> something wrong. But alas, we’ve been running for 12 years next year !  we
> must surely be doing something right and our / my approach as you can see
> is most definitely not Blue Chip big Management, it’s hard graft on the
> treadmill.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Nick
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk');>
> [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk');>] *On
> Behalf Of *Two Lochs Radio
> *Sent:* 18 January 2015 12:36
> *To:* The Community Media Association Discussion List
> *Subject:* Re: [cma-l] imaging and the announcement
>
>
>
> *It looks like the first sentence of my posting got chopped off (perhaps I
> deserve a beheading!). It should have started:*
>
>
>
> "Sorry if I've missed Ian's point, I just couldn't see how items 1-3
> should have higher priority than item 4, since implementing them would be
> part of the Station Manager's responsibility. "
>
>
>
> As you say Pippa, viability has to be proved from the outset, in fact
> beforehand, but I would say the main need to do so is not for the funders
> nor Ofcom, but to prove to yourselves there is any point pursuing the
> venture at all.
>
>
>
> Any team setting out on this road has to decide how much compromise they
> can make in the early days to get started with the funding they can
> achieve, butof course that can be slightly chicken-amnd-egg. One of the
> toughest decisions is whether to 'go for broke' and plan everything to have
> full funding and high-standard facilities from the outset, and try to find
> big funders, or to start 'on a shoestring' with cobbled together gear and
> try to work upwards from that.
>
>
>
> I would say that at either extreme, one thing that can't be foregone is a
> paid station manager (not necessarily full-time) - but then I'm a station
> manager, so I would say that! Seriously, my observation is that any
> micro-scale station, needs at least one person, preferably a
> pair, with both personal and formal commitment to making sure things work
> and develop. Ironically, the bigger the station, probably the less
> important a station manager is to its success, but still a person with
> drive and commitment in the lead will make all the difference.
>
>
>
> The other things I would say should not be compromised, even on the
> shoestring, are the ability to maintain a proper technical quality and
> reliability of transmission and programming, and of course the ability to
> comply with all Ofcom requiements (eg totally reliable logging of output).
> If a financially viable shoestring solution can't be found to meet these
> minimum needs, then I would say the whole scheme may not be something that
> can sensibly be pursued.
>
>
>
> Sadly we've now seen two Scottish Highlands and Islands CR licencees hand
> back their licences after a few years of failing to get on air at all,
> because in each case after legnthy internal debate the groups decided that
> if they couldn't raise the funds to 'do the job properly' from the outset,
> then they wouldn't do it at all. One was in a thriving, densley populated
> town, the other on a lightly populated moutainous island. Right decisions?
> Who knows? At least they may have saved themselves years of tough struggle
> on something that was eventually going to prove non-viable in the long term
> anyway.
>
>
>
> Alex
>
>
>
>
>
> ...
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>
> *From:* Two Lochs Radio
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','tlr at gairloch.co.uk');>
>
> *To:* pippa <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','pippa at curlyradio.com');> ; Ian
> Hickling <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','transplanfm at hotmail.com');> ; The
> Community Media Association Discussion List
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk');>
>
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 17, 2015 2:34 PM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [cma-l] imaging and the announcement
>
>
>
> would be part of the Station Manager's responsibility.
>
>
>
> Yes, I'd expect the station manager to do an awful lot more of course - it
> wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list of a Station Manager's
> responsibilities... has anyone ever got to the end of that list? One of the
> problems is that generally the smaller the station, the wider the range of
> the SM's direct responsibilities (but usually the lower the pay!).
>
>
>
> As for news, in our case we see local news as an absolutely key part of
> our local broadcasting - a key differentiator for us against any other
> radio service available in our area, and one of the main reasons for a
> sizeable proportion of our audience to tune in (chances are quite a few
> tune in for the local news and weather and then leave us again!). Producing
> it is probably our heaviest daily burden however - it is time consuming and
> tedious to produce, day-in, day-out.
>
>
>
> For national news in daytime hours we get a 2-3 minute hourly bulletin
> from Glasgow. IRN/Sky News would sound completely wrong for us in the
> north-west of Scotland, but the 'Glasgow and the West Coast' bulletin of
> national and international news that we get fits in just fine.  During peak
> hours we follow the national bulletin with our local news and weather.
>
>
>
> Alex
>
>  -----
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>
> *From:* pippa <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','pippa at curlyradio.com');>
>
> *To:* tlr at gairloch.co.uk
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','tlr at gairloch.co.uk');> ; Ian Hickling
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','transplanfm at hotmail.com');> ; The Community
> Media Association Discussion List
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk');>
>
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 17, 2015 11:39 AM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [cma-l] imaging and the announcement
>
>
>
> Absolutely Alex!  Once you are established, great. However it's difficult
> at start-up level though because you need to prove to funders (whether
> commercial or 3rd sector) that you are viable before they will stump up the
> cash.
>
>
>
> What else would you expect a paid Station Manager to do?  For me, getting
> out and networking is a must.
>
>
>
> Incidentally, I'd love to know how colleagues handle news coverage. Do you
> take a national service? Follow it up with local news snd weather?  Or is
> everything done in house?
>
>
>
> Loving these conversations! Together we are stronger!
>
>
>
> Pippa
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent from Samsung Mobile
>
>
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: tlr at gairloch.co.uk
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','tlr at gairloch.co.uk');>
> Date: 17/01/2015 11:10 (GMT+00:00)
> To: pippa at curlyradio.com,Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','transplanfm at hotmail.com');>>,The Community
> Media Association Discussion List <cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk');>>
> Subject: Re: [cma-l] imaging and the announcement
>
>  But if you put your number 4 as number 1 instead, all the rest should
> then be taken care of! :-)
>
> Alex
>
> On 16 January 2015 at 21:09 Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','transplanfm at hotmail.com');>> wrote:
>
> After having built over 40 stations but not actually ever had the pleasure
> of running one for more than 28 days, I'd prioritise in a different order:
>
>    1. Professional imaging – so you sound to your audience  like a proper
>    radio.
>    2. A superb website featuring a listen again service and links with
>    social media
>    3. Make your ads in house by all means, but make very sure they sound
>    professional.
>    4. A full time paid Station Manager who runs the business
>    professionally and effectively.
>    5. Think carefully about News - go for local - don't bother with
>    national.
>
>  Whisky Mac for me please!
>
> Ian
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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